Many of us in the health obtainment and maintenance field preach about the benefits of not eating before bed. Not eating before bed confers benefits metabolically, hormonally, and in the care of certain medical conditions, such as reflux disease.
A recent study published in Cell Reports showed that, at least in mice, eating late at night might make one more vulnerable to sunburns, aging of the skin related to sun damage, and possibly even skin cancer. The study, conducted at UC Irvine, determined that eating at odd times disrupts the daytime potency of certain enzymes in the skin that guard against the sun’s damaging ultraviolet radiation.
This suggests that those who eat late at night are more vulnerable to the sun’s harmful rays. If the metabolic and hormonal reasons behind not eating at night do not encourage you to avoid it, maybe the avoidance of sunburns and wrinkling skin as you age would encourage you.
It would be a stretch to interpret the study’s findings as applicable to humans, too, as mice biology is obviously different. However, it is interesting that there may be yet another reason to get a few hours of bowel rest before bed, as this study would implicate.
